K1 Visa Delays: So frustrated and disappointed, I don't know what to do

[crobot 23]

While I can't speak to the 10-year tourist visa specifically, it is absolutely allowed (and common) for people with pending K1's to visit the United States while waiting for approval.

 

For example, my fiancée (Greece) and I filed in June of 2021. Since then, she has visited twice with a travel waiver without any issues (aside from us having to stay together in Canada for 14 days due to pandemic travel restrictions at the time).

 

To be clear, this may not be the case for someone with a B1/B2 like your fiancée which I believe allows her to stay twice as long as the ESTA travel waiver allowed mine - maybe others could chime in. But, generally speaking, tourists can still visit the US even after establishing a desire to emigrate. People recommend that travelers be ready to provide evidence of ties home such as employment contracts, leases, etc, but even that is often overkill. My fiancée, for example, had had just moved back home before she first visited, having just completed a graduate degree. As such, she had no lease, no job, no continue education. She was stressed that'd be an issue with customs, but they waved her right through.

[callmeshelle 15]

3 hours ago, Ecofolux2427 said:

Thank you everyone for your input. I'm happy to hear they will contact me about further steps rather than physical email to my fiancé.

 

I spoke to a USCIS representative today and we're trying to escalate the case due to "humanitarian issues". I explained how China (a communist country) does arbitrary lockdowns/covid punishments and frankly how I'm worried about potential war over this whole US-Taiwan-China controversy.  I just want to get her out of China as quickly as possible.

That wont work. I applied for my now husband’s k1 visa in may 2020. My husband was living in Guangzhou,China as a student for over 5 years. My husband is african and experienced racism and mandatory quarantines, denied to enter restaurants to buy food simply for being black and this was broadcasted all over international news. African students were being kicked out of their apartments because Chinese people accused them of being the cause of covid. I had evidence of them forcing students into hotels for quarantine with the police outside the hotels and they were only giving them 1 gallon of water to share for the day. The ambassadors from many african countries had to intervene. I sent all of this to USCIS and they said it was not a cause to expedite. I just had to wait and pray he was safe. 

[MarJhi 963]

14 minutes ago, callmeshelle said:

That wont work. I applied for my now husband’s k1 visa in may 2020. My husband was living in Guangzhou,China as a student for over 5 years. My husband is african and experienced racism and mandatory quarantines, denied to enter restaurants to buy food simply for being black and this was broadcasted all over international news. African students were being kicked out of their apartments because Chinese people accused them of being the cause of covid. I had evidence of them forcing students into hotels for quarantine with the police outside the hotels and they were only giving them 1 gallon of water to share for the day. The ambassadors from many african countries had to intervene. I sent all of this to USCIS and they said it was not a cause to expedite. I just had to wait and pray he was safe. 

According to your timeline you had a pretty fast processing time from start to finish, especially during the height of covid. I think most of us still in the process would consider 315 days start to finish almost an expedited process. Congratulations!

 

Processing Estimates/Stats : Your I-129f was approved in 238 days from your NOA1 date. Your interview took 315 days from your I-129F NOA1 date.

 

 

 

[SalishSea 17,970]

5 hours ago, Ecofolux2427 said:

You think they're aware of her trying to get married and wouldn't allow her entry on a tourist visa?

Absolutely.

[SalishSea 17,970]

2 hours ago, crobot said:

While I can't speak to the 10-year tourist visa specifically, it is absolutely allowed (and common) for people with pending K1's to visit the United States while waiting for approval.

 

For example, my fiancée (Greece) and I filed in June of 2021. Since then, she has visited twice with a travel waiver without any issues (aside from us having to stay together in Canada for 14 days due to pandemic travel restrictions at the time).

 

To be clear, this may not be the case for someone with a B1/B2 like your fiancée which I believe allows her to stay twice as long as the ESTA travel waiver allowed mine - maybe others could chime in. But, generally speaking, tourists can still visit the US even after establishing a desire to emigrate. People recommend that travelers be ready to provide evidence of ties home such as employment contracts, leases, etc, but even that is often overkill. My fiancée, for example, had had just moved back home before she first visited, having just completed a graduate degree. As such, she had no lease, no job, no continue education. She was stressed that'd be an issue with customs, but they waved her right through.

Right.   Would be very hard to get a B visa with immigrant intent already established, however.

 

My fiance visited on his B visa without incident while our petitions as processing.  He always had strong ties to home, because we had no intention for him to AOS.

[Lynxyonok 316]

6 hours ago, Ecofolux2427 said:

I'm a US citizen and my fiancé is Chinese. We applied for the K-1 Visa back in September 2021 (yes we have confirmation that the California processing center received it in September 2021). It's been 11 months and it's still the same, no updates, no progression. I don't know what to do, I see some people from May 2021 still waiting. It's infuriating! I haven't seen my fiancé in 2.5 years. I almost want to bring her here on her valid 10 year tourist visa and "wait it out" here because who knows how much longer it really will be. The big problem I see with this is if she comes here, she will move out of her apartment. When they send a letter to her Chinese address for her interview, no one will be there to receive it. I don't know what to do and I'm getting to the point where I might snap. Is there anything else I can do besides just "wait"? Thanks for any input

First of all, I get it. Many of us do, as a matter of fact; this process, this giving up a thirtieth portion of one's life just for some paper is definitely inhumane.

 

It's challenging.

 

There's little I or anyone else can say right now to cheer you up. Frankly, it's immeasurable, the amount of positive emotion necessary to keep all the waiting souls afloat.

 

That said.

 

Shortcuts are deadly.

 

Shortcuts can be illegal, forever barring one from the hope of their life.

Shortcuts can be painful, morphing into lawyers, additional hearings, more flights, extra overseas trips.

Shortcuts tend to come back hundredfold, and not in a good way.

 

I get it.

 

You're upset.

 

Full disclosure... I am too. I've said too many things in the past forty-eight hours for the same reason you might be feeling. I'm going to pay for it soon, too, I'm sure.

 

Many, all too many of us have been in this boat.

 

We can only hope it's going to dock at the right shore someday.

 

Columbus hasn't turned back home.

 

Why should you? 

[Loren Y 2,756]

Is she locked up in China, If she has a passport I am sure there are countries she can travel to without a visa. A quick google search should tell you what countries she can enter with a visa on arrival, and how long she can stay. find a country that lets her extend her stay while there and you can usually milk it for 6 months in that country, and that should be long enough for everything to get to the embassy in China, then she can fly back, medical , interview, get visa in passport, and bail out. I've spent years hoping from country to country back in the days, doing border runs to reset the clock on my visitors visa, so I know it can be done. Just have to have the funds to do it.

[inloveVEN 46]

So sorry for how things are going!

 

But you cannot bring her to wait here, at the POE she will need to say that so there is an intention to migrate on her tourist visa so i dont think they let her in and in the other hand not telling the real intentions can be considered as an migration fraud

[crobot 23]

3 hours ago, inloveVEN said:

So sorry for how things are going!

 

But you cannot bring her to wait here, at the POE she will need to say that so there is an intention to migrate on her tourist visa so i dont think they let her in and in the other hand not telling the real intentions can be considered as an migration fraud

This is not true. While it can be difficult to obtain a tourist visa like a B1/B2 after initiating the K1 visa process, OP's fiancee got her visa beforehand, so it is currently valid and legal to use. There is no rule that would prevent her from visiting the United States on a tourist visa while her K1 is pending. It is not immigration fraud as long as she follows the rules of her existing, current, and valid visa.

 

Like I said before, my own fiancee has visited the United States twice while our K1 was pending. The first visit was for two months and the second for almost three. There is 159 page long thread on this forum titled "Yes, you can visit!" which is full of folks describing how they were able to visit the United States as a tourist while their K1's were processing.

 

If you have a valid tourist visa, you can enter the United States, at the discretion of CBP (as always), regardless of whatever other applications you may have pending.

 

Everyone telling OP that this isn't an option doesn't know what they're talking about, full stop.

[inloveVEN 46]

1 hour ago, crobot said:

This is not true. While it can be difficult to obtain a tourist visa like a B1/B2 after initiating the K1 visa process, OP's fiancee got her visa beforehand, so it is currently valid and legal to use. There is no rule that would prevent her from visiting the United States on a tourist visa while her K1 is pending. It is not immigration fraud as long as she follows the rules of her existing, current, and valid visa.

 

Like I said before, my own fiancee has visited the United States twice while our K1 was pending. The first visit was for two months and the second for almost three. There is 159 page long thread on this forum titled "Yes, you can visit!" which is full of folks describing how they were able to visit the United States as a tourist while their K1's were processing.

 

If you have a valid tourist visa, you can enter the United States, at the discretion of CBP (as always), regardless of whatever other applications you may have pending.

 

Everyone telling OP that this isn't an option doesn't know what they're talking about, full stop.

I don't really think is needed this rude answers in this site.

The problem is not the tourist visa, the problem and is what i could understand is to come to the USA and wait here for the approval. 

And I insist there are other places to answer in this way 

[powerpuff 6,744]

1 hour ago, crobot said:

This is not true. While it can be difficult to obtain a tourist visa like a B1/B2 after initiating the K1 visa process, OP's fiancee got her visa beforehand, so it is currently valid and legal to use. There is no rule that would prevent her from visiting the United States on a tourist visa while her K1 is pending. It is not immigration fraud as long as she follows the rules of her existing, current, and valid visa.

 

Like I said before, my own fiancee has visited the United States twice while our K1 was pending. The first visit was for two months and the second for almost three. There is 159 page long thread on this forum titled "Yes, you can visit!" which is full of folks describing how they were able to visit the United States as a tourist while their K1's were processing.

 

If you have a valid tourist visa, you can enter the United States, at the discretion of CBP (as always), regardless of whatever other applications you may have pending.

 

Everyone telling OP that this isn't an option doesn't know what they're talking about, full stop.

In @inloveVEN’s defense, they did not say that you cannot visit as a tourist. They said you cannot come to the US to wait out the process (as OP suggested he’d like to do) as that would entail living here even if it’s temporary. And I completely agree, the tourist visa (B2/ESTA/VWP) is for visiting and doing what tourists do, not waiting out the entire process in the US. If CBP asks what’s the purpose of your visit and they say “oh just going to pitch camp in the states and wait out here while my K1 is processing”, I imagine that won’t go over very well.

[callmeshelle 15]

21 hours ago, MarJhi said:

According to your timeline you had a pretty fast processing time from start to finish, especially during the height of covid. I think most of us still in the process would consider 315 days start to finish almost an expedited process. Congratulations!

 

Processing Estimates/Stats : Your I-129f was approved in 238 days from your NOA1 date. Your interview took 315 days from your I-129F NOA1 date.

 

 

 

I had to pay $2000 to join the Milligan round 3 plaintiffs to get it finished quickly. I was lucky to have NOA2 right before they announced round 3. My husband had 2 friends who started k1 process in Guangzhou in May 2019 and one in Dec 2019 and he got his visa before all of them only because of the lawsuit. 

[Ecofolux2427 11]

2 hours ago, crobot said:

This is not true. While it can be difficult to obtain a tourist visa like a B1/B2 after initiating the K1 visa process, OP's fiancee got her visa beforehand, so it is currently valid and legal to use. There is no rule that would prevent her from visiting the United States on a tourist visa while her K1 is pending. It is not immigration fraud as long as she follows the rules of her existing, current, and valid visa.

 

Like I said before, my own fiancee has visited the United States twice while our K1 was pending. The first visit was for two months and the second for almost three. There is 159 page long thread on this forum titled "Yes, you can visit!" which is full of folks describing how they were able to visit the United States as a tourist while their K1's were processing.

 

If you have a valid tourist visa, you can enter the United States, at the discretion of CBP (as always), regardless of whatever other applications you may have pending.

 

Everyone telling OP that this isn't an option doesn't know what they're talking about, full stop.

Thank you for explaining it clearly.

 

My new idea: Since she already has her B1/B2 visa, she can come visit for a month or so (up to 6 months), maybe in October/November. She's already stayed with me for a few months back in 2019 before the pandemic.

 

So since we've established she will not be receiving physical mail about the interview date/etc., does she need to keep her apartment or can she just "move back in with her parents" (in her hometown) while she visits here? 6 months is a long time, I'm optimistic that she will be granted her K1 visa in the next 4-6 months. She could technically visit me for the next 6 months while we wait for her interview, then she can just fly into Guangzhou for her interview....right?

 

How long after the interview does it take to get her K1 visa? 

 

Also she has two cats in China, not sure what's the best way to get them here safely 

[crobot 23]

45 minutes ago, Ecofolux2427 said:

Thank you for explaining it clearly.

 

My new idea: Since she already has her B1/B2 visa, she can come visit for a month or so (up to 6 months), maybe in October/November. She's already stayed with me for a few months back in 2019 before the pandemic.

 

So since we've established she will not be receiving physical mail about the interview date/etc., does she need to keep her apartment or can she just "move back in with her parents" (in her hometown) while she visits here? 6 months is a long time, I'm optimistic that she will be granted her K1 visa in the next 4-6 months. She could technically visit me for the next 6 months while we wait for her interview, then she can just fly into Guangzhou for her interview....right?

 

How long after the interview does it take to get her K1 visa? 

 

Also she has two cats in China, not sure what's the best way to get them here safely 

She absolutely could move back in with parents and then visit you, there are no rules against living at home versus renting a place.

 

A few things though - the keyword is visit. She'll need to go back home before the limit on her visa, and also because the interview, medical, etc will all take place at the American embassy in China, not here in the states.

 

She will need to have a return flight home. My recommendation would be to have the flight scheduled for a shorter stay than a longer one, as a longer stay will subject her visit to a higher level of scrutiny. Again, it's allowed, but again, all of this is at the discretion of the CBP person at customs.

 

If you approach this not as "how can I have her stay with me for the entire time we're waiting for our approval" but more "I'd like her to visit for a month or two because we haven't seen each other in a very long time", customs will scrutinize her entry a lot less. If I were in your shoes, I'd say that she should have a return flight booked a month or so out, versus one booked out nearly six months away. Once she's in the US, and things are going well, you can always reschedule her return flight further out. That's what we did the last time my fiancee visited. Her initial stay was for three weeks, but things were going so well, we ended up pushing back her flight twice, and she ended up staying almost the full three months her visa permitted. There's nothing wrong with doing that as long as her stay is within the limits of her current visa.

 

As for how long it takes to get the K1 after the visa, I can't speak to the embassy in China, but you'll often hear stories from couples whose visas approved on the spot. As for the cats, can't help you there, but I think the requirements for bringing a cat into the country are a lot less strict than dogs. Best of luck!

[Xiaova 1,480]

1 hour ago, Ecofolux2427 said:

Thank you for explaining it clearly.

 

My new idea: Since she already has her B1/B2 visa, she can come visit for a month or so (up to 6 months), maybe in October/November. She's already stayed with me for a few months back in 2019 before the pandemic.

 

So since we've established she will not be receiving physical mail about the interview date/etc., does she need to keep her apartment or can she just "move back in with her parents" (in her hometown) while she visits here? 6 months is a long time, I'm optimistic that she will be granted her K1 visa in the next 4-6 months. She could technically visit me for the next 6 months while we wait for her interview, then she can just fly into Guangzhou for her interview....right?

 

How long after the interview does it take to get her K1 visa? 

 

Also she has two cats in China, not sure what's the best way to get them here safely 

I can definitely relate since I'm in a similar situation to you. My fiance is in China too and I haven't seen her in close to 3 years (will be in October). She has her interview scheduled for the end of August.

 

My fiance did receive Packet 3 in the physical mail though and not electronically. It contains instructions for the next step i.e:

 

1. Fill out the DS-160 form and print out the confirmation page (NVC case number is required to finish the process).

2. Copy of passport

3. 2 passport photos

 

My fiance had to send that back to the Consulate thru the mail. A few days after the consulate received the contents, she received an email from the consulate to go ahead and schedule her interview. I guess since you can get NVC case number from the NVC you can fill it out without the packet 3 but it's nice to know when to complete the form.

 

We decided not to take our chances with my Fiance visiting since it is up CBP person's discretion and how strict the COVID quarantine is on the return trip. Also, if your Fiance does visit, please keep in mind a direct flight from USA to China currently cost about 5k to 10k plus 7 day mandatory quarantine hotel costs. I heard of people going from USA -> HK -> China for cheaper flights but then she might have to quarantine 2 times, so she definitely want to return earlier for the visa interview / medical check up. Of course the quarantine rules can change anytime but I'm not expecting any huge changes in the next 6 months to be honest.